Barstool Breakdown Coach Day's Heisman & Playoff Rankings Vol. 5

We are now firmly in November, and oh how bittersweet it is, we’re getting all of these great matchups and rivalry games incoming, while also knowing the college football season is sadly inching toward its end. As we continue on though, races tighten and rankings heat up. Tuesday will give us the 2nd rendition of the College Football Playoff rankings after another wild weekend. Before we get into that, we need to take a peek at the updated Heisman Top 10.

The top side of the list are really the few who have a true shot at an invite, they did not move this week. Fernando Mendoza saved his candidacy with a miraculous comeback drive, a huge Heisman moment. And even though he only played three quarters vs Navy, Notre Dame’s Jeremiyah Love found a way to push himself further into the invite conversation.

I REALLY want to re-emphasize my statement from last week: Joe Fagnano deserves way more praise than he’s getting. After torching Duke(possible ACC champ bound BTW) in UCONN’s upset win, I’m left questioning what this award is even about. His numbers are insane top to bottom, including a 25–0 TD:INT ratio, oh & while being 2nd in the nation in passing yards. If Fagnano finishes strong, he deserves the invite. Take 5 guys and let him be the 5th. How can we not if he finishes with 3,000+ yards, 30 TDs, and fewer than 3 INTs? Oh, and potentially getting UCONN to 9 wins. Throw the man a bone, media!

Okay, enough Heisman talk — let's get into the rankings.

My Top 6 from last week remains unchanged. Yes, people will clamor for Texas A&M to jump Indiana, but Penn State might be the most talented 3–6 team this century. So let’s relax. The Hoosiers still deserve #2.

Texas Tech... even with their HC crying and whining about Notre Dame, jumps up to #7. Oregon did beat a ranked team, but what Tech did to BYU should be considered a crime in most states. You have to wonder: if the Red Raiders get a home playoff game… will the tortillas fly again?

Meanwhile, the ACC is smashing the panic button with Louisville and Virginia slipping up. They might need Georgia Tech to win out in the ACC while either beating or hanging tight with Georgia, or else they could be in trouble. And watch out for Pitt, they are creeping into the conversation. They have a HUGE matchup at home this week against the nation’s sworn enemy in Notre Dame. As an Irish fan, I can’t help but laugh watching coaches, media members, and fans cope with ND permanently living in their frontal lobes. But I am very nervous about this one, Pitt is well-coached and has a history of crashing late-season parties. Just ask Miami or Florida State.

Speaking of party crashers, Wisconsin eliminated Washington officially, though the Huskies could still play spoiler later on vs Oregon. Now, several teams still hoping to sneak in have major chances this weekend. Texas and Oklahoma both play Top 5 teams. A win could flip the entire board. A loss likely knocks them out, well maybe not Texas as they still have A&M too.

Teams like Michigan, Utah, Miami, Vanderbilt, and USC will be strongly rooting against Texas, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame this Saturday. They’re on the outside looking in, but as we saw this past week, anything feels possible this season.

Lastly, the Group of 5 picture is still unclear, though Memphis and San Diego State are out of the equation. My money is on James Madison to be the G5 rep. USF still has Navy and likely Tulane or North Texas again. JMU has the cleaner path — but again, who knows how this shakes out.

This is only the 2nd CFP rankings release and already there’s expected to be a ton of movement in a weekend that was supposed to be quiet before the big one ahead. With many teams playing either ranked opponents or bowl-eligible ones, this whole system could get real messy... leaving the committee with some uncomfortable decisions.